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If you have an entrepreneurial itch but aren’t ready to quit your
job or cash out your IRA, you may find another low-risk,
low-overhead way to start a business.

Dustin Culton and his wife, Jennifer, of Omaha, Neb., did just
that about a year ago, when they started Omaha Modern, an
“intensive” part-time venture that netted them roughly $30,000 in
the first year.

The Cultons’ business is based on their 13-hour round trip drives
to the nearest Ikea store, in Minneapolis, to pick up furniture,
placemats, flatware and other items with umlaut-bearing names for
customers in Omaha and other Midwest cities far from the Swedish
big-box retailer.

“The odds of Nebraska seeing a store locate here in my lifetime
are virtually zero,” Dennis Culton says, citing a population
that’s apparently too sparse for the retailer. “However, Ikea
products are very stylish and have a high demand, even in markets
without easy access to purchase them.”

Customers ordering directly from Ikea’s website don’t have as
vast a selection as those visiting stores, and shipping costs can
run higher than the product itself, Culton says, so his customers
can buy more and potentially save significantly on shipping.

“We basically take the entire Ikea website and catalog and open
it up to our clients,” he says.

For the Cultons, both 37 and working in the insurance industry,
the business grew from their own trips to Ikea to buy items for
their home. They initially made one trip a month to Minneapolis
for customers and recently added a second. Dustin has made the
last few trips without Jennifer, who recently gave birth.

The Ikea runs involve spending six to 10 hours in the store, six
to 10 trips through the checkout line to buy 150 to 200 items,
and filling up a 6-by-10-foot enclosed trailer that they haul
with a used Cadillac Escalade. Trips can consist of $6,000 to
$11,000 in volume and 15 to 25 customers’ purchases.

Culton estimates Ikea saw about $100,000 in sales from his
business in the first year.

“In total over the past year we've had over 300 orders, so quite
a bit of activity,” he says.

With a typical 30 percent to 35 percent pickup fee, Culton
estimates the business has generated approximately $35,000 before
expenses, $27,000 to $30,000 after. He estimates expenses amount
to $400 per trip, excluding a monthly $400 vehicle payment. The
trailer, which Culton had before starting the business,
originally cost $2,000.

“Ikea has basically said they like that we do this, but we can’t
use their logos,” Culton says.

Ikea spokeswoman Mona Liss told Entrepreneur.com: “Although the
vast majority of Ikea’s sales happen in the store, we recognize
and appreciate that customers far from Ikea stores want to buy
from us." She added that Ikea is "working on meeting the needs of
these customers by expanding our e-commerce range, reducing our
e-commerce delivery prices and adding stores in new markets.”

The Cultons aren’t the only people running private businesses
that deliver and assemble Ikea furniture, but it’s unclear how
many make such long hauls. Last year the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch profiled a couple who made similar runs
from St. Louis to an Ikea in Chicago for their business,
Expedite St. Louis.

As for Culton, “I'm one of those guys who has had several
different ideas for products, businesses … and have always wanted
to see one take off," he says. "I don't need to be rich from it,
but be able to live off of something I love.”